Blood, Sweat, and Tears
by PsychoticKiller
Summary: Teamwork was nonexistent in Nick's life. It was just a...no. He doesn't need anyone. Never did, never will. And no three total strangers are gonna change that. Oh really?


Nick burst into his hotel room and slammed the door with his right hand before bringing up both hands to entangle in his hair. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!" he cursed bitterly. He just lost about $5000 bucks on a gambling spree. He huffed shortly before face-palming himself.

_I truly screwed up tonight. Well played, Nicolas. Who knew hillbillies had brains? _

He chuckled stiffly before taking off his suit jacket and hanging it on a nearby tattered chair, pushed in under a small coffee desk.

_I just need some rest. Yeah, rest. I could leave this GOD FORSAKEN place first thing tomorrow morning along with my wonderful memories of this wonderful town. _

He didn't even bother to change. He allowed himself to lie down on the not so comfortable bed and before he knew it, he was out cold.

Screaming. Nick woke up to the sounds of people screaming.

_Goddammit, don't people know how to keep their fucking annoying wailing to themselves?_

He clenched his fists and twisted his mouth in distaste before opening his eyes. The light showering in through his window overpowered the dull beige curtains and thus hurt his eyes.

_People are so annoying. Why, Jesus, Why?_

He stared at the ceiling some and remembered his plans. _Oh yeah, I'm leaving today. Right Now. Fantastic._

He slowly sat up and eyed the digital clock on the nightstand next to his bed.

7:00 A.M. In big neon green letters. _Jesus Christ, don't people know what fuckin' time it is?_

He sighed exasperatedly and walked to his balcony, the screaming and chaos ceasing to stop.

Nick's eyes burned at the sudden contact with the sunlight and it took some time for him to adjust, but when they did he couldn't believe what he saw. There were people running out of the hotel's main entrance, running and yelling hysterically. There were people in hazmat suits who repeatedly yelled at them to calm down and not panic. More people came out but some were groaning and growling like sick bastards. "What the hell?" Nick mumbled in disbelief. One word: Chaos. Suddenly, he heard the glass of the adjacent balcony break and a corpse land with a loud thud causing him to jump a little. A man followed and turned to look at Nick with crazed eyes.

"What are you doing? The world's going to hell! The world's going to end!"

"What in god's name are you-"

"Run!-"Nick heard the sound of wood splintering followed by disgusting moans and shoes shuffling on linoleum. "Aw, Dammit!" The man cursed. "They're coming!" The man grasped the ledge of the concrete balcony and turned to Nick, his expression full of fear. Nick's eyes widened, "What in fucking hell are you-" The man had thrown himself over the balcony subsequently landing on an alarmed car. Nick flinched at the spectacle before his eyes before he was brusquely shoved back into reality as the neighbor's other glass door shattered. Some more people barged in, some of them also following the man off the balcony. But there was something…off about them. They looked abnormally… inhuman.

A female with her nose dangling off her face and her mouth covered profusely in blood turned and shrieked dementedly before charging for him. Nick gave a string of profane curses before retreating into his room and slamming the balcony door and swiftly closing the draperies covering the glass slide doors.

"Jesus, what has gotten into them?" he murmured to himself. There was banging on the glass door and Nick feared, no wait no, Nick _knew_ that the doors will give out. He took in a shaky breath when he was abruptly interrupted by a loud pounding on his door. Nick closed his eyes, "Aw, fuck…"

Nick paced towards the coffee table and grasped his jacket, slipping it on. He accommodated his collar and slicked back his hair, excluding the loud banging and shrieks and groans currently filling the room. Nick did his best to keep his cool, proving to be futile when he fumbled with the drawer handle and took out a handgun. He gripped it shakily and turned to the door, which now had an aperture with bloody, grimy hands reaching in, trying to grab on to something. He aim and shot at the hands, one by one as they continued to disappear. Turning to the balcony, he eyed the covered glass doors. Shooting the glass was NOT an option. Nick sucked in a breath and held it, thinking of what to do.

_My life is pointless. If I kill myself, nobody will miss me. Why not now when I'm going to die one way or another?_

"Is anybody still alive?! Hello?! Anybody?!" a female voice called through the hallways, as if on cue. Nick glanced and put the gun in his jacket. He cleared his throat and responded, "Uh, O-Over Here! I'm-I'm in here!" Nick shouted. He trudged towards his door, opening it with some difficulty and stumbled upon people on their floor, their hands amputated off. _Oh boy._ A young dark-skinned woman jogged down the hall and heard the screams and grunts of the infected outside his balcony. "Are you okay?" she asked politely before shuddering at the sound of crackling glass. "Never been better." Nick sneered, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Come on, we don't have time for this we've got to get to the evac station on the roof." She mentioned breathlessly. "Wait, like a terrorist attack evacuation or what?" Nick said jokingly. "You don't watch the news do you?" The glass cracked once more, causing both of them to flinch."Uhhh, Yeahhh. No" he informed bluntly. The glass door shattered and the infected ran straight towards them the curtains doing little to hinder them.

"Come on let's get to the roof." The woman burst into a sprint and Nick followed. Was this a dream? No, it felt too real. If the world really was going to hell, he didn't want to be there for it. He wanted to be in hell waiting for the world. What about the evacuation? What was that about? Nick was truly clueless, for once.

"Could you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Wait. We have to get to that chopper!"

"I have a right to know, I'm human too if you find that unbelievable." he insisted.

She turned to him before ascending another flight of stairs, "Just-Just wait okay?" she spun on her heel and dashed up the steps, Nick following suit. They reached a door and the woman tiredly grasped the doorknob and opened the door, before catching sight of the chopper, their salvation, flying away.

"No. No, no, no, no, NO! They-They weren't supposed to – What?! NO!"

She brought her slender fingers up to massage her temples, her eyes closing.

"What happened? Where's the chopper?" Nick demanded.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with a defeated expression.

"I-I, I don't know. They were supposed to wait for me and the people I would bring. I don't- I don't understand." She explained desperately.

"Look, regardless of whatever's going on, I know one thing and one thing only about this fucking situation. Nobody, you hear me, nobody is going to save us." He slipped out his gun from his jacket and waved in front of her face, "I am going to save myself, so thank you but no thank you; quite frankly, I could handle this on my own."

"You won't survive out there alone" she informed.

"Ha! _You_ are telling _me_ that I can't fucking take care of myself?"

"Yes. You told me that you had no idea what's going on. You don't know what you're up against. And let me tell you can't do it alone" she added smugly.

"What do you know, bitch?" Nick insulted incredulously.

"A lot actually, being a reporter and all unlike other arrogant fools who don't have the slightest idea."

"Well sorry if I don't give a shit about the world." He apologized sarcastically.

Footsteps echoed through the stairway followed by panting. Nick would even dare to think: voices, but his sanity was hanging by a thread as it is. A young man emerged with blood smeared on his face holding a machete. An older man followed holding a chainsaw. Nick observed them and still couldn't fully register that these people were indeed human. Too much had happened in just a couple of minutes.

His mind could just burst.

"Hey guys, are yew guys, ya know…" the young man smiled hopefully.

"No. I don't know" Nick snapped.

"Don't listen to him, he's a little… cranky." The woman explained.

"A little? A little?! I'm very angry and confused in respect to this whole fuckin' situation. And worse of all nobody will tell me what the fuck is going on."

"A'right ev'rybady calm down." A voice boomed, everybody turning to look at the older man.

"We shouldn't be like this. And you," he glanced at Nick, "Stop being such a goddamn prick."

They all fell silent, but Nick glared daggers at him.

"So you guys do know what's going on or am I indefinitely stuck with dumbfucks." The older man opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the younger man with overalls.

"I wouldn't exactly call it that mister."

"Oh yeah, how 'bout hillbillies, that works."

"Stop it!" the older man scolded. "W'have to start thinkin' what we's gonna do." He eyed all of them.

"We're in this togetha. Whether ya like it," he gandered at Nick, "or_ not."_

"Well, first things first, big guy. We-Oh wait, _I_ have got to get off of this building." Nick derided. He smirked and cocked his head to the side. "But unfortunately, we're NOT a team so I'm on my way."

He spun on his heel and started descending the stairs.

"Uh Coach, w'jus can't let 'im jus' walk away like tha'." Nick faintly heard the young man state.

"Ellis, don' worry. He's an asshole. He don't deserve our help."

Nick felt a little pang of guilt for treating them so harshly, but quickly discarded the thought.

He continued down the stairs and paused just before the door.

"I'm still alive. Just to let you guys know." Nick jeered loudly.

He opened the door fearlessly and saw the hallway littered with the bastards he saw at his hotel room.

Three of them turned and bared their bloody teeth at him, low growls rumbling from their throats. The blood looked fresh and saliva mixed with blood bubbled up on their torn lips dripping down their chin and jaw. The "people" charged at him alerting the others, who did the same.

_Maybe staying with them wasn't such a bad idea after all._

He paced backwards slowly towards the door and opened it, ready to go back to the roof and make up some lie about changing his mind. Nick placed his foot on the first step, but before he knew it he was pinned to the floor, a crazy, hooded male trying incessantly to slash at his abdomen with his oddly long nails. He grunted and struggled continuously, trying to shove the thing off him, but eventually gave in.

_So this is how I'm gonna die. I should've killed myself when I had the chance._

The infected ripped his shirt and dug his sharp nails into his flesh, causing a choked cry of pain to escape Nick's lips. Nick continued to try to pry the creature off of himself but with no avail. The creature continued to gash at his flesh, blood spraying everywhere. His eyes started to feel heavy, his consciousness slowly slipping away. The weight of the infected was abruptly shoved off of Nick followed by loud gunshots.

"Come on, dude get up."

He opened his eyes groggily, clutching his abdomen, the blood soaking his shirt smearing onto his hands.

The older man and Nick made eye contact, but Nick broke it and looked away ruefully.

"Here, stand still, dude, yew look terrible." The younger man zipped open a small med kit and pushed him towards the wall, cleaning the wounds thoroughly.

"Yer lucky, young'un," the older man stated softly.

"Uh,…"

_Shit, What should I say?_

"Did you hurt anything?" the woman asked.

"Only my pride." Nick stated with a small smirk.

He stood up and looked at the older man.

"Look, thanks for… you know, saving me."

_Great. All those years trying to stay away from people to keep from commitments just to be burst by a couple of strangers that I barely know for a couple of minutes._

"No problem, son. But you gotta cut the tough guy act and accept that ya need us. We need each other. I think it's time for you to swallow your pride and team up with us. Our survival depends on this." Nick winced as the kid pressed to hard on a wound.

_Oh great, what a wonderful request. Next thing you know their gonna be begging me to_ **leave.**

He sighed, "Fine, okay. You guys fuckin' win. But let's get out of here."

"Okay." The young man added.

"By the way, mah name's Ellis."

"I'm Rochelle." the small woman informed.

"My friends call me, Coach."

Nick sighed grudgingly.

"The name's Nick." He added gingerly.

"Nick, whether w'like it or not, we're all friends now. It's not a question about trust,

but it's about our survival." Nick stared at Coach incredulously, but finally nodded hesitantly.

_Even if I don't agree too much on the idea. As soon as this mess ends I'm outta here._

Oh really?

**A/N: I'm sorta new to this kind of stuff so please review and give any constructive criticism, please.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading! :)**


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